


blood in the water

by blackkat



Series: From the Sannin to Shisui - Older Generation Drabbles [10]
Category: Naruto
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, First Meetings, Fix-It of Sorts, M/M, Violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-07
Updated: 2019-01-07
Packaged: 2019-10-06 09:22:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,626
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17342726
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/blackkat/pseuds/blackkat
Summary: “Youwant to hire a Kiri nin?” the swordsman says in surprise.





	blood in the water

**Author's Note:**

> For a prompt on my Tumblr: ...did anyone ever reply to that question about pairing up Yashamaru? Because I've got to tell you... after a while of being like "Yashamaru? Pairing?" my brain was like... "but what about... Kisame?" and now I'm like "ngh... look away before you get sucked in", lol.
> 
> Suffice it to say I got sucked in. D:

“ _You_ want to hire a Kiri nin?” the man says in surprise.

Yashamaru tries not to take it personally; he knows he’s not intimidating to look at, and he’s been deliberately playing civilian for weeks now whenever he’s in public, trying to make it habit. With Gaara curled against his shoulder, watching the swordsman with wary eyes, and everything about them ragged from fleeing across the breadth of Fire Country without stopping to rest, he doesn’t have much in common with the elite Suna jounin he used to be.

“Yes,” he says, and tries to keep it even, without his desperation slipping out. “I heard you talking, and you said your mission was over, so I was hoping—I can pay you, I know the rates—”

The swordsman lifts a hand, chuckling. “Sure, sure,” he says easily. “I can take another job. Want someone knocked off? Someone sleep with your wife and you want them done in?” His grin is full of sharp teeth. “You sleep with someone’s husband and want the husband out of the picture?”

It takes effort for Yashamaru not to roll his eyes. Kiri nin are all bloodthirsty bastards, and he can't believe he’s relying on one for help. “No,” he says, maybe a little tartly, and it makes Gaara's eyes dart to him with something like alarm. Carefully, Yashamaru reminds himself to take a breath, and says more carefully, “It’s a protection mission. I need escort to Kiri.” Their Mizukage is a jinchuuriki after all—news of his appointment just reached Suna, and it’s one of the things that spurred Yashamaru to grab Gaara and leave. Surely a place with a jinchuuriki as leader won't treat Gaara like a monster, pretending they had no hand in his creation.

The words seem to surprise the swordsman, who blinks, looking Yashamaru over again. “Expecting a lot of resistance on the way?” he asks, amused. “Because Konoha nin come cheaper for easy jobs.”

“But Kiri nin like to fight,” Yashamaru says, and that’s what he’s pinning his hopes on here. “And there will likely be a lot of fighting.”

The man grins, wide and sharp, and his eyes, faintly luminescent in the shadows of the bar, flicker past Yashamaru. “Oh yeah?” he asks, chuckling. “Anything to do with those guys who’ve been eyeing you for the last ten minutes?”

Yashamaru doesn’t bother pretending to be surprised. “Yes,” he says, because he’s felt their eyes on him since the moment they came in. Sloppy; Rasa must be sending out even the lowest chuunin in an attempt to catch him. not that Yashamaru expected differently. “They're going to try to grab me the minute I leave.”

The swordsman sweeps another look over him, more careful this time, and by the sudden pause, Yashamaru can tell he’s spotted the kunai hidden up Yashamaru’s sleeves. Slowly, his eyes slide back up, and he meets Yashamaru’s gaze with something that’s a lot like interest.

“Well,” he says lightly, and rises to his feet, “if you're going to be paying me, I think it’s in my interest not to let them.”

Relief makes Yashamaru’s muscles weak, and he closes his eyes, presses his face into Gaara's crimson hair. “Thank you,” he whispers, because he’s been fighting his way through his former comrades for _weeks_ now, desperate to get somewhere safe, never quite brave enough to close his eyes for more than a handful of minutes at a time. If he’d planned better, if he’d thought this through—

But Rasa was talking about Gaara being a danger, and tests, and Yashamaru had heard about Yagura in Kiri and had the wild, desperate thought of _what if_.

Karura wanted people to love Gaara the way she did, and Yashamaru isn't about to let his twin sister’s dying wish be forgotten or wasted.

With a chuckle, the swordsman claps him lightly on the shoulder, then nudges him towards the door, keeping his body in between Yashamaru and the Suna chuunin. “I'm Hoshigaki Kisame,” he says. “Anywhere particular in Kiri I'm taking you?”

“The Mizukage's office, preferably,” Yashamaru says, and offers him a strained smile in return. “And—if I don’t—don’t make it, would you see that Gaara gets to him? It—”

Gaara makes a sound of distress, lifting his head sharply. “Yashamaru—” he starts.

“It won't matter,” Kisame interrupts, though not unkindly. He grins at Gaara, who freezes, unsure what to do with the friendliness from someone who isn't Yashamaru. “I’ll get your kid there, but I’ll get you there, too.”

“Thank you,” Yashamaru says gratefully, and all he needs is one more set of eyes, one more trained body. He can't manage everything on his own, despite his ANBU training.

“Don’t mention it.” Kisame chuckles, loosening his katana in its sheath. “Luck you caught me when I'm not assigned to the Cipher Squad, or I’d have to pass up on the cash.”

“It is lucky,” Yashamaru agrees, and deliberately doesn’t turn when he catches the sound of chairs sliding back, money hitting the table. Blatant and unskilled; if Yashamaru was in charge of their training, he’d never have let them graduate from the Academy. He glances up, checking that Kisame heard it too, and the man’s grin has somehow gained even more teeth. He winks at Yashamaru, then steers him sideways, around the edge of the building and towards the woods that crowd up against the back, and Yashamaru sweeps a look over the trees, catches a flash of hair-thin chakra—

“Trap!” he cries in warning, and of _course_ the chuunin inside were the distraction, the push. He lunges past Kisame, ducking low, and comes up with a handful of kunai. It’s the work of an instant to attach chakra wires to each one, to fling them out at the two puppeteers just rising from the darkness. Yashamaru knows the tricks; he was a chuunin in the war, served with Sasori and his corps, and he spins the kunai, wrenches them back in an unpredictable arc. He gets the first in the back of the neck, hard enough to sever his spine in one blow, and the leaping puppet drops, limbs going limp as it crashes to the ground. The other puppeteer tries to dodge, letting the blade skim his shoulder, but Kisame meets him with a laugh and the edge of his blade, sweeping it up and right through his gut with a burst of speed that’s nearly unbelievable for a man his size.

Behind them, there's a step, heavy, incautious. Yashamaru spins, drops Gaara on his feet and wrenches two exploding tags out of his robe, then tosses them out. The chakra strings snap tight, sending them hurtling forward, and neither chuunin has a chance to dodge. With a thump, the tags strike, and Yashamaru slashes a hand down, letting his chakra leap out to catch the fuses.

There's a bone-rattling explosion, a spray of blood and flesh, but Yashamaru grabs Gaara and leaps before it can reach him, landing on the far side of the building. Turns, scanning the impromptu battlefield—

A kunai skims past his cheek, embeds itself in the forehead of a man who appears in a whirl of sand, already reaching for them. He drops, and Yashamaru takes a staggering step back clutching Gaara to his chest. He hadn’t thought, hadn’t _seen_ —

“Easy there.” A big hand catches his shoulder, and Kisame pulls him against his side, draping an arm over his shoulders. Yashamaru realizes belatedly that he’s trying to block Gaara's view of the bodies, and can't decide if he wants to laugh or feel grateful for the attempt to spare him. But—

The warmth of him is surprising, unexpected. The last time someone other than Gaara was this close, it was Karura, about to go into labor, and Yashamaru’s breath shudders out of his lungs. He lists sideways before he can stop himself, leans into Kisame's side, and says, “Thank you,” with every bit of sincerity he can muster.

“No problem,” Kisame says gently, and pulls them forward, into the darkness of the trees. “You promised me a fight and delivered right away. Maybe I should be paying you.”

Yashamaru laughs before he can hep it. “There should be plenty more,” he says, and glances down at Gaara. “Are you all right?”

Gaara offers him a tentative smile, fingers curling into his robe. “I'm okay,” he promises. “Are we still going to someplace nice?”

“Yes,” Yashamaru says, and runs a hand over his bright hair. “Or at least somewhere not terrible.”

Gaara nods, accepting that, and rests his head on Yashamaru’s shoulder again.

“Should we find some place to stop so he can sleep?” Kisame asks, eyes flickering from Gaara up to Yashamaru with something like concern. “It’s getting late.”

Firmly, Yashamaru shakes his head. “Gaara can't sleep,” he says. “He won't let himself, either.”

Kisame catches his arm when he stumbles over a branch, doesn’t let go even when Yashamaru is steady. “Even if Gaara doesn’t, you do,” he says. “There’s a hideout Kiri nin use sometimes, up near the falls. No one else will find us there, and you can get some rest. We’ll head for Kiri in the morning.”

Yashamaru hasn’t slept for more than a few minutes since they left Suna, and even with his training, it’s starting to show. He grimaces, but nods, and belatedly remembers to say, “I'm Yashamaru. Thank you for this, Kisame.”

Kisame chuckles, and the hand on his elbow is far gentler than it should be for a Kiri nin, for a killer. Then again, Yashamaru is a killer, too, and he knows better than anyone that appearances can be deceiving.

“It’s not a problem, Yashamaru,” Kisame says, and leads him into the darkness.

**Author's Note:**

> Find me on Tumblr as blackkatmagick.


End file.
